Marcel de Jong Re-Signs With Pacific FC

Canadian Premier League club Pacific FC is retaining the services of marquee signing Marcel de Jong for another year.

The west coast club confirmed that veteran Canadian international Marcel de Jong would be extending his stay this morning, though the financial details and the length of his contract were not disclosed by the club.

The 33-year-old left-back was slated to be one of the club’s main presences on the pitch throughout the inaugural season, but an Achilles injury during preseason meant that Marcel de Jong only got to make two appearances at the tail-end of the fall season.

Having returned to fitness, the Newmarket-born defender is now hoping to put in a full, healthy season with the Tridents. Interim head coach James Merriman says that the 33-year-old will help set a high standard for the club’s youngsters to follow:

Marcel has been excellent in his recovery, he finished the season in a good place and brings great experience to our group. He leads by example on and off the field and sets the standard in our group.

James Merriman

When Marcel de Jong was originally injured, the club scrambled to quickly sign left-back Blake Smith from FC Cincinatti to fill in the large hole left by the veteran defender. Smith has since departed from Pacific FC.

Speaking with the CPL Editorial Staff, Marcel spoke about how the club’s west coast location – along with the allure of making history in Canada’s new domestic professional league – made renewing an easy choice for the veteran international:

The overall picture [with Pacific FC] is perfect for me and my family. We were in Vancouver for the last three years, and made a good connection with the city. My wife loves it out here, she has a lot of friends here, so it was a smooth transition for us. The CPL and soccer coming to Vancouver Island, it was something I wanted to be a part of. It was perfect timing for me at that point in my career.

Marcel de Jong

Marcel will be expected to help lead several re-signed youngsters throughout the 2020 season, though it’s unclear if he will be the de facto captain of the side. To that end, Pacific FC CEO Rob Friend recently indicated that the club had made an as-yet-unknown player signing who is ‘future captain material‘.

While Marcel de Jong is evidently happy to have renewed for another season with Pacific FC, the 33 years old recognizes that he’s in the latter stages of his career. Earlier this year, he stated that when he does eventually hang up his boots he’d like to stay on with Pacific FC, potentially in a similar manner to what Jan-Michael Williams is doing with the Halifax Wanderers.

In any event, the 33-year-old left-back will be hoping that a healthy season will allow him to lead Pacific FC to a better finish in the 2020 season. With the inaugural campaign seeing the west coast club finish fifth and fourth in the spring and fall seasons respectively (with head coach Michael Silberbauer being sacked as result), there’s certainly still room for improvement.

The re-signing of Marcel de Jong is expected to go a long way in potentially helping the club climb further up the league table in 2020.

Source: Canadian Premier League